In the heated race to develop new hepatitis C drugs that boost the cure rate, Wall Street thinks Vertex Pharmaceuticals has a slightly better drug than a rival entry from Merck, and thus will garner the large majority of sales.

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In the race pitting science against microbes, however, the spread of hep-C looks likely to outrun a cure.

FORBES: The Next HIV?

Wall Street is bracing for one of the biggest new drug categories in a decade: the launch of a series of antiviral medicines that could dramatically improve the cure rate for hepatitis C, a viral disease that slowly attacks the liver and is often fatal.

FORBES

But early data suggest that in combination with interferon and ribavirin, cure rates for hep-C approach 60%.

FORBES: The Next HIV?

Some studies of the new drug therapies being developed appear to show cure rates above 90% following treatments as short as 12 weeks in patients with certain types of hepatitis C, although further studies involving larger numbers of patients could find lower cure rates.

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Both have substantially boosted the cure rate in big trials, raising excitement among hepatitis c specialists.

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